Having a hammer snag on a draw in a self defense scenario could ruin your whole day.

I only have two revolvers, a Smith and Wesson 638 Bodyguard snub nosed revolver that has a shrouded hammer and can be shot either double action or single action and is snag free.

My other revolver is a Ruger SP101 snub nose in 38/357 Magnum and I did bob the hammer on that one, did not affect reliability one bit and I can still shoot it single action if I want to, at the range with the handgun safely pointed downrange at the target, I pull the trigger back just enough to bring the hammer back where I can get my finger on my weak hand between the hammer and the frame and then pull the hammer back until it is fully cocked.

I shoot double action mostly, in a defensive situation you will probably only run double action, however it is nice to have and practice single action.

having the hammer snag on a draw can ruin your whole day...so can having the gun not fire. And if it doesn't fire, a smooth snag free draw is kind of negated, now isn't it?

I'm not a fan of bobbed hammer guns, and won't pay for one, unless it came that way from the factory. Not because bobbing the hammer always renders the gun unreliable, but becuase it might.

Different ammo has different primer hardness/sensitivity. Factory guns are set up to ignite the wide range likely to be encountered. I'm sure there is a certain amount of "extra" force factored in, just in case. Change the hammer, and you have no idea if you have removed this margin, or not.

The gun may work reliably for ages, until it does not, when an extra hard primer happens to be under the hammer. Or it might start misfiring right away. No way to tell, that I can see. Your gun, your call. Not for me, thanks.

I have had one bobbed hammer gun, and it would reliably fire, 3-4 rounds out of six. And not the same ones every time, either. You do what you want, and so will I, and we'll get along fine.

Remember that if you ever decide to sell the gun, to get full value, you'll need a buyer who thinks like you do, because to me, you butchered it....

__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

With my 13-3, on which I installed a bobbed replacement hammer, I have shot approximately 2500 rounds of Georgia Arms .38, 500 rounds of Georgia Arms .357, and maybe 50 rounds of Buffalo Bore light .357 without an ignition failure.

(I tend to buy ammo in lots of 500 or 1000, in the Georgia Heat ammo cans.)

"I'm not a fan of bobbed hammer guns, and won't pay for one, unless it came that way from the factory. Not because bobbing the hammer always renders the gun unreliable, but becuase it might." Quote by 44 AMP

Extremely good and interesting quote 44 AMP, and I respect your opinion and the opinion of others who feel the same way.

Before bobbing the hammer on my Ruger SP101 snub nosed revolver to make it snag free, I noticed that Ruger had come out with the same model with the hammer bobbed,,, You have got me thinking and I "Thank You",,,I will call Ruger now to see if the hammer or springs are changed in any way and ask them if my revolver should be changed over to their system or not,,, or is safe to carry and depend on as is.

You have got me thinking and I "Thank You",,,I will call Ruger now to see if the hammer or springs are changed in any way and ask them if my revolver should be changed over to their system or not

I bet they are not (at least for S&W)... otherwise Brownells and others would be selling two versions of the mainspring, which they do not. To my knowledge the only variants they sell are those that are reduced from original strength for reduced trigger pull weight, which makes it easier for those of us who need them for competition (combined with Federal primers).

Just finished talking to Ruger Customer Service on the East Coast, the technician at first said there was no change in the springs and the only change to the hammer was the bobbing no change in hammer material, and that the bobbed hammer should not affect reliability at all.

Ruger does not sell bobbed hammers to the general public so they can do the installation themselves,,,a Ruger Revolver owner can send the firearm in and the charge is about $80 to install the bobbed hammer.

However then we began to discuss DA/SA and SA only and the technician said that when installing a bobbed hammer Ruger does change the pistol over to DA only and in doing so he said there might be a small spring change.

After asking him, the technician said even without the change to DA only and the minor spring change that the handgun should be reliable with the hammer bobbed.

I have been known to have jumped off cliffs forgetting my parachute,,,and the old saying "Discretion is the Better Part of Valor" comes to mind,,,it might be better to call and talk to the manufacturer before you get out the file!

If the factory puts in a bobbed hammer, and the factory says its all right, then the factory stands behind it, and should the gun have trouble, then the factory will fix it. I'm good with that.

If you bob the hammer, then its your issue, if there is on. And if the gun goes on the market, as a buyer, all I know is someone bobbed the hammer, and that someone isn't around to call and fix it if there is an issue down the road.

I understand how guns work pretty well, but I'm not set up to make engineering calculations like the factory is. If they decide the stock spring is still the right one with a bobbed hammer, I won't argue with that. I'm counting on them to have made the calculations and to produce a sound, reliable product. That's what I'm paying for. And I'm also counting on then to stand behind what they sell. That's another thing I'm paying for. SO, from the factory, I', ok with that.

Used, done by who knows, and also with no idea what, if anything else was done, that, I'm really leary about. Some folks will bob the hammer AND put in light springs, and sell if it has problems. USED, its buyer beware, and I am...I think you ought to be too.

__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

I understand how guns work pretty well, but I'm not set up to make engineering calculations like the factory is. If they decide the stock spring is still the right one with a bobbed hammer, I won't argue with that. I'm counting on them to have made the calculations and to produce a sound, reliable product.

I suspect that their "engineering calculations" only involves taking a spring from the box that came from their spring supplier and putting it into the gun...regardless if it is a spurless hammer or the standard spurred one.

__________________Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you only pay more for what you get.
Three shots are not a "group"...they are a "few".
If the Bible is the literal, infallible, unerring word of God...where are all those witches I am supposed to kill? (Exodus 22:18)

Since this is a matter of personal taste- to each his own. For me, I think it is a BAD idea. I would turn the spur into a rowel. You may need to have a weldor help on this. The round rowel won't hang up on your clothes but you can still cock the hammer and shoot it single action if you wish- the best of both worlds.

Since this is a matter of personal taste- to each his own. For me, I think it is a BAD idea. I would turn the spur into a rowel. You may need to have a weldor help on this. The round rowel won't hang up on your clothes but you can still cock the hammer and shoot it single action if you wish- the best of both worlds.

In his book, "No Second Place Winner", Jordan seemed to consider the spur somewhat of a rowel without any addition. He cautioned that when fast drawing, the spur was a source of injury to the shooter's hand.

__________________Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you only pay more for what you get.
Three shots are not a "group"...they are a "few".
If the Bible is the literal, infallible, unerring word of God...where are all those witches I am supposed to kill? (Exodus 22:18)

Not so much personal taste, as it is an indication of critical thinking skills. Likelihood of snagging on clothing vs. likelihood of needing the spur because it will help rotate a baulky cylinder, or the need to perform the mystical, rare (and never realistically defined), "long" shot with a defensive revolver.

__________________Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you only pay more for what you get.
Three shots are not a "group"...they are a "few".
If the Bible is the literal, infallible, unerring word of God...where are all those witches I am supposed to kill? (Exodus 22:18)

I had the hammer of my Chief's special bobbed back in the 70's...for the usual reason. Never a bit of trouble with light strikes (stock springs). When my wife began shooting several years ago it became her bedside gun. It's a safety issue--I wouldn't want her to be tempted to cock the hammer and have to safely decock it in a stress situation. I have a 642 and 442...both hammerless....but she likes the weight of the Chief--less recoil.

One day at the pinking range three guys showed up. Everyone was shooting at milk jugs. The guy next to me was plowing up the earth around a variety of jugs and I thought he was just kidding around, no one could be missing at a plinking range...so I joined in fun and started laughing.
The guy glared at me.
Realizing I might have been in error I asked if he was really trying to hit the target. He said nothing but his two friends chimed in.."It's worse than that"
"How?" I asked.
"He's a cop!" they said.
How he qualified I don't know but in any event I told him to try my revolver and shoot single action.
Six dead milk jugs and a look of joy over his face, I guess it was the first time in his life he could really hit anything. So...as I said, I think it is a matter of personal choice. I own about 50 handguns and my favorites are a 6" Model 19 in 357, Model 29 with a 6 1/2" barrel and in 44 Magnum, and Colt Gvt 1911 (45 ACP). I'd feel comfortable using any of them in a gun fight although I've actually only been in 2 gun fights and had different handguns in both of them.

I routinely practice 25 yard shots in DA mode; suppose I can try some at 50.
Point is, if you can actually shoot DA, then you don't really need SA for "long" shots, unless you plan to use a handgun against a rifleman.

Exactly! In a defensive use of a handgun, the threat will be close to you...if it is far enough away to warrant single-action shooting, it is not a threat.

__________________Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you only pay more for what you get.
Three shots are not a "group"...they are a "few".
If the Bible is the literal, infallible, unerring word of God...where are all those witches I am supposed to kill? (Exodus 22:18)

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